Phrases You Only Know If You're From Hong Kong

Every country or city has a set of slang words or phrases locals use to speak to each other. When travelling or migrating to a foreign country, it’s understandable new arrivals want to blend into the lifestyles surrounding them, but often the words needed to fulfil this wish don’t appear in the dictionary. Here, we come to your rescue by translating a few useful phrases – so you can convince everyone you’ve lived in Hong Kong forever.

Sap sap seui (濕濕碎)

This particular phrase is used to describe something when it doesn’t take much effort.

Lor

This is an expression which doesn’t really mean anything, but Hong Kong locals often use it at the end of a sentence, similar to how we say ‘um’. You can literally add it to anything, for example: ‘I’m going to the grocery store lor’, or ‘I’m fine lor’.

Nui sun (女神)

Nui sun means goddess. This phrase refers to the attractive girl many are envious of. You could call Regina George or Blair Waldorf a ‘nui sun’.

Ga yau (加油)

The literal translation to this is ‘add oil’. However, locals use it to encourage one another. Typically, when students in Hong Kong go through tests or exams, they tell each other ‘Ga yau!’, as it means, ‘you can do it!’.